Then, Now, Forever
by existence555
Summary: Katara runs away after an incident with Zuko in an effort to get away from her feelings. Luckily, being Fire Lord has some perks that allow him to find her. When they reunite, Katara finds her image of the future changing. Zutara oneshot!


**A/N: If you have a second, it'd be great if you could vote on my poll! Anyway, this my second Zutara attempt. Reviews are much loved! :)**

Zuko rubbed his eyes wearily. He'd had a long day with the Earth Kingdom ambassadors, and he was ready to flop into bed and sleep.

As usual, fate screwed him over.

"Fire Lord Zuko!"

He let out a small sigh when he heard his name. A large group of firebenders walked inside in a circle formation, and the person they were surrounding was enough to make Zuko forget how tired he was.

"We have found and detained the person that you asked us to," the soldier reported. "Katara, the master waterbender, is with us."

They stepped aside to reveal the scowling woman.

"Thank you," Zuko told them. "You may leave."

The soldier looked at him in uncertainty.

"Be careful, my Lord," he said. "It took twenty of us to capture her."

"I know what I'm dealing with," Zuko replied, a harsh edge in his voice. "You may leave."

The soldier nodded, bowed, and left. The others did the same. Once they were gone, Zuko descended from the throne to walk to the woman standing in the middle of the room.

"Hello, Katara," Zuko greeted her.

The previous harshness Katara had heard was gone. The warmth in his voice threw her off guard, despite her attempts to ignore it.

"You have me kidnapped and the only thing you can say is that?" Katara retorted. "What is all this, Zuko?"

He looked at her, his eyes the only giveaway of his surprise.

"You ran away," Zuko reminded her. "How else was I supposed to find you? I looked everywhere I could think of."

"Perhaps I didn't intend for you to find me," Katara shot back. "Ever think of that, _Fire Lord_?"

"The thought did occur to me," he admitted. "But the need for us to talk was greater than the need for your intentions to be respected."

She glared at him, eyes flashing angrily.

"We have nothing to talk about," she snapped. "Nothing."

"Maybe we should go sit down," Zuko suggested.

Katara didn't protest as they walked to one of the palace's many rooms; even if they had nothing to talk about, it would be better to sit down. The room wasn't heavily decorated; it was simple, with red walls, two chairs, and a table.

Zuko pulled a chair out, motioning for Katara to sit down. She nodded curtly to acknowledge the gesture but did not thank him. He sighed and sat down across from her.

"You could've gotten me killed!" Katara exclaimed. "You think they would have hesitated to–"

"I gave them very specific orders," he interrupted. "So you can't be outraged over that."

"Then maybe the fact that you had me captured," Katara continued. "That might be something to be angry about, don't you think?"

Zuko brought a hand to his head to massage his temples. He was not going to get to sleep early tonight.

"Why did you leave?" he asked.

"Why would I stay?" Katara said bitterly. "Our kiss was a mistake."

"Then why did you stop things with Aang only a day later?" Zuko retorted.

She bit her lip, more out of frustration than anything else.

"Aang and I weren't working out," she said finally. "He's more like a brother to me than anything else. I just can't think of him like that."

"So you've never kissed him the way you kissed me?" Zuko asked.

Katara's glare intensified, and his question remained unanswered.

"How did he take it?" Zuko inquired.

"Okay," she shrugged. "He could feel that it wasn't right either."

"You and Aang broke up amiably, Mai and I broke up amiably," Zuko pointed out. "There is absolutely nothing standing in our way, Katara."

She turned away; her heart might have shot itself straight into Zuko's arms if she looked at him.

"I'm not cut out to be Fire Lady, Zuko," she told him quietly, still not facing him. "It's not right for me."

"I'm not asking you to be Fire Lady," he said. "I'm asking you if we can try this."

"IT'S OBVIOUS WHERE WE'LL END UP!" Katara shouted suddenly, finally meeting his eyes. "IT'S OBVIOUS, ZUKO, AND IT WOULDN'T END WELL."

He raised an eyebrow, surprised at her sudden outburst. Zuko decided that he should probably remain calm, in the interests of the people of the Fire Nation. If things got out of hand, nobody could be sure how much damage they would leave behind.

"Why would it be obvious that we'd end up married?" he pressed on. "I mean–"

"YOU KNOW WHY!" Katara replied angrily, standing up in an attempt to appear more menacing. "THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ME, THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL, IT'S SO OBVIOUS!"

"What you're saying is that we're in love," Zuko said.

He felt breathless after saying it out loud. The thought had lingered in his head for a few months as he had waited for Katara to be found. However, saying it out loud made his head spin, and suddenly all he could think about was the fiery cool sensation of her lips on his…

Zuko looked up, shaking himself out of his lapse into the memory. Katara's lips were parted, as if she'd meant to say something, but she looked lost.

He could do nothing but take advantage of the moment. Getting to his feet, he put a finger under her chin and leaned forward to kiss her deeply. Zuko reasoned that it could go two ways: Katara would either kiss him back or she would freeze him half to death.

In the first moment of the kiss, Katara struggled with her two options: kiss him back or make him into Zuko the Fire Lord Popsicle.

Luckily for the him, she chose the first, and they only broke apart when they realized that they needed air. As she caught her breath, Katara was irritated to find that she was irritated that they were separated by the distance of the table.

"I take it that you agree," Zuko shrugged.

Katara wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face, but when she looked at his lips, all she could think about was kissing him again.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked.

"Fire Lady Katara," she chuckled. "It sounds ridiculous. After all, what kind of Fire Lady is a waterbender? I doubt it would work."

"The title of Fire Lady shouldn't scare you," Zuko told her. "Besides the fact that I love you–"

At this, Katara's eyes widened. Though they had come to an understanding that they were in love, hearing the words made her feel dazed. Zuko smiled; even this little victory was precious.

"The people of the world need a Fire Lady like you," he continued. "You'd exemplify forgiveness, the Water Tribe woman that married the Fire Lord. And it's not like you don't attend official meetings, unless you've run away. There's nothing to fear, Katara."

His gold eyes captured her blue ones, and he reached out to take her hand in his.

"I love you," Katara confessed. "And…"

She wasn't sure whether, or for that matter, how, to answer the unasked question, so she trailed off. Understanding, Zuko walked around the small table, closing the gap between them but never letting go of her hand. Leaning down gracefully on one knee, he looked up at her.

"I would be honored to spend the rest of my life with you," Zuko said softly.

Her mouth met his in a blindingly passionate kiss that left him with only one thought.

His destiny had never been clearer.


End file.
